DEERFIELD, Ill. — A Takeda drug designed to treat hypertension was statistically superior to another drug combination in reducing systolic blood pressure among patients in a 10-week, late-stage clinical trial.

Published in the American Journal of Medicine, Takeda said a fixed-dose combination of its drug Edarbyclor (azilsartan medoxomil and chlorthalidone) was significantly greater at six and 10 weeks than those of azilsartan medoxomil co-administered with hydrochlorothiazide. For instance, primary endpoint data showed that at week six, the clinic SBP reductions of the fixed-dose combination of azilsartan medoxomil and chlorthalidone was 35.1 mm Hg, compared with 29.5 mm Hg among those taking azilsartan medoxomil and hydrochlorothiazide. At the end of 10 weeks, greater clinic SBP reductions were maintained in patients taking the fixed-dose combination of azilsartan medoxomil and chlorthalidone (37.8 mm Hg) versus those taking azilsartan medoxomil and hydrochlorothiazide (32.8 mm Hg). Data also showed that more patients achieved their target blood-pressure levels at the end of six and 10 weeks (secondary endpoints) when taking the azilsartan medoxomil and chlorthalidone fixed-dose combination.

"Hypertension management can be complex and the use of combination therapy with a diuretic is a common treatment approach,"said study co-author William Cushman, professor of preventive medicine at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine in Memphis, Tenn. "While hydrochlorothiazide is more commonly used in clinical practice, this study provides further support for the use of chlorthalidone in fixed-dose combination for patients with hypertension."

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